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what a gross creature but since it does eat grubs and bugs, I suppose I should be happy - rather have a gaggle of guineas though.
Anyway, one of these critters has made its home under our deck. We knew something was there because the dog (hound) has been making us nuts with growling at something under the deck covering the carport - we assumed mice. But yesterday morning, she alerted to something on the treeline across the field and I was able to spot the dillo. She didn't want to do her business (and it was freakin' cold), so I tried to get her to come in. Soon as we came in, she rang the bells to go out again (new skill I taught her so we are still rewarding with immediate response) and out we went. The dillo was near the house, digging at the base of the plum tree and the dog went after it. Dillo ran under the deck stairs and headed for the one section of deck that wasn't fenced and it ran under. She ran up the stairs and followed the dillo all the way over to - yup, the spot she's been alerting to all winter.
So I want it gone. I have read about moth balls - but I really don't want the main door we use to stink like mothballs forever; so on to ammonia - again not a smell I want; and now we have vinegar. Not a single of the websites indicate whether white vinegar or cider vinegar. I have never used white vinegar for anything besides cleaning and don't really find it has an odor; so I'm leaning towards getting a gallon of cider vinegar.
Anyone have any success with this? We have a 1200 sq ft deck so that's a lot of area to cover with vinegar - or something else.
I'm open to all suggestions - except using snakes!
You leave it alone and enjoy it. It was there and belongs there, you just moved in. You need to adapt, not change what's there.
That depends on how long she's been in Tennessee. Armadillos are pretty new there. They didn't cross the Rio Grande into Texas until about 1850.
Annie: If you want it gone, get a Have-A-Heart trap and bait it with an open tin of sardines. Relocate or kill and eat. Armadillo on the half shell is a fine dish.
Sorry, but the vinegar is a fool's errand. Also note that they can sometimes cause foundation damage by excavating around and under things that you would rather they didn't.
Last edited by Cleonidas; 02-13-2014 at 01:28 PM..
That depends on how long she's been in Tennessee. Armadillos are pretty new there. They didn't cross the Rio Grande into Texas until about 1850.
Annie: If you want it gone, get a Have-A-Heart trap and bait it with an open tin of sardines. Relocate or kill and eat. Armadillo on the half shell is a fine dish.
Sorry, but the vinegar is a fool's errand.
Well I cannot be exact but I believe she has been living there for 4 - 5 months or so...probably for sure she got there after 1850.
So, you recommend trapping it or eating it. That's just a dandy of an idea if she is looking to catch leprosy.
Best is to leave it alone, both you and your doggie. Let it be. There are many, many more there. They are gregarious. You'll be fine if you leave it alone.
Best is to leave it alone, both you and your doggie. Let it be. There are many, many more there. They are gregarious. You'll be fine if you leave it alone.
Well, it took 9 banded armadillos until around the turn of the 21st century to get from the Rio Grande into SW Tennessee. But you're right that that trumps 4-5 months.
It's actually not that easy to contract leprosy from an infected armadillo and it's about a 1 in 5 chance that the guy under the porch has it. Handling one bare handed and then wiping your eyes, spilling armadillo blood into an open wound on your skin or holding a live trap by your face to admire a trapped armadillo so it could sneeze in your eyes would be risky, but even then limited contact like that just isn't very likely to result in an infection unless you're immune compromised in some way. Picking up a live trap by the handle and driving it's occupant to another location to release it just isn't very risky at all as far as leprosy is concerned. If you work for Boudreaux and trap armadillos for a living and sell them to Domithilde's Country Bistro in Plaquemines Parish, that's another thing. Dogs are at even less risk since they run at a higher body temperature. The reason leprosy is a skin disease in humans and a full body disease in 'dillos is that our outermost layers like the fingertips, toes, male appendages, ears, lips and nose tip are usually at a temperature that is more suitable for leprosy than our core, while armadillos have a body temperature of about 93-95 degrees so it can thrive throughout.
I was joking about cooking it (haven't met a New Yorker that was adventurous enough in the culinary sense to eat a little armored one - and I'm not either).
The armadillo may have been on the property before we moved in, but it was not under the deck as there was no completed deck until after we moved in and I'm pretty sure it's habitat at that time was in the front yard - the hole is still there, undisturbed by us. It was not under the deck until this winter, and certainly not under the part of the deck that covers the old carport because my dog was not alerting to it until recently (since December) and I have been fostering this same dog for 9 full months with 3 others before her who never alerted to anything under the deck other than an occasional squirrel or frog that ran from the dog or kitties.
We have been here for 17 months. I am, actually, looking to trap and rehome it. I read that it needs to be near a water source and there are plenty of ponds near here. However, in order to trap it, I need to help it leave its new hidey hole; so sardines it is.
I have 2 sizes of hav-a-heart traps - mainly for capturing injured strays that can't wait for me to earn their trust. In fact, it's how we got the danged thing out of pool when it fell in when it was empty. Even then we simply let it loose again in our yard, but this under the deck scratching and driving the pets crazy is not ok. Time to go.
Ok I won't say a .22 rifle, because everyone will go crazy. The thing will dig up your yard this spring, so a trap would be best. BTW, I ate armadillo once. Tasted like warm cardboard. Wouldn't recommend it.
Ok I won't say a .22 rifle, because everyone will go crazy. The thing will dig up your yard this spring, so a trap would be best. BTW, I ate armadillo once. Tasted like warm cardboard. Wouldn't recommend it.
You can make anything taste good if you like the taste of Tabasco and black pepper.
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You need to adapt, not change what's there.
That's just a dandy of an idea if she is looking to catch leprosy. 
